New Report Finds Significant Hispanic Home Ownership Gap

Between now and 2020, roughly four out of every 10 new households that form in the U.S. will be headed by someone of Hispanic descent – more than any other single racial or ethnic group. The Hispanic demographic will be a key driver of home rental and purchasing activity in the next several years, and this will have important implications for the housing sector. Hispanics aspire to home ownership, and the majority of Hispanic movers want to purchase when they move. But a new report from The Demand Institute finds that there is significant business opportunity in meeting the housing and community demand of Hispanic households in the next five years.

“Hispanics & Home Ownership: Closing the Gap”is the latest publication fromThe Demand Institute, a non-advocacy, non-profit think tank jointly operated byThe Conference BoardandNielsen. The report finds that nearly four million Hispanics would like to purchase a home when they move, but only 1.5 million are financially prepared to do so – a gap of 2.5 million households that will struggle to attain the goal of home ownership because they lack the down payment, income or credit to follow through on their plans.

The report also finds that more Hispanics are moving to the suburbs, even though Hispanics are still more likely than non-Hispanics to live in urban areas. “Hispanic households are still most likely to be family households,” saidJeremy Burbank, who is a vice president at The Demand Institute and leads the American Communities Demand Shifts Program. “Hispanics are moving to the suburbs for more space, better schools and more affordable housing – they’re looking for places to raise their families,” said Burbank.

Hispanics & Home Ownership: Closing the Gapis the first report from The Demand Institute’s American Communities Demand Shifts Program, which provides insight on the future of American communities, including the ever-evolving housing sector. The program is an extension of more than four years of in-depth research conducted by The Demand Institute, and will help business leaders and policymakers better anticipate and address the needs of consumers and citizens.